Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Odds and Ends 1

Before making porridge today I made a sidecar. I had wanted to make a brandy alexander but didn't have any cream.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Porridge

For the past 2 or 3 years, MLK Day has become something of a catch-up day to get to some of the things I missed over the holiday season.  This year I made porridge.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Taking Down the Tree

All of it down by today.

Christmastide 2014/2015 - Summary

January 6, 2015

Christmas really is a most wonderful time of the year. I'm so grateful to have spent this Christmastide with so many wonderful family and friends including Mom, Dale, Noel, Mike, Charisse, Warren, and  Gary. I love experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and emotions of this fantastic season with them. 

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Dale and Athena

Double sweet.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Twelfth Night

We celebrated Twelfth Night tonight. It was quiet and understated.  A shot of Jagermeister, gingerbread men cookies, and some candles (real and electric), helped mark the evening as an end to the Christmas season. Now, for the life of me, I couldn't find the three kings to put with the manger scene. What's with that? I'm sure I'll probably find them this summer...

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Joe and Dale

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - More Christmas Picture Books

Spent a little time today looking at some Christmas picture books I've encountered over the years. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), The Night Before Christmas (1949)and Santa Mouse (1966) were read to Sam, Pete, and me by Mom years ago. The Polar Express (1985) was a books I encountered in my early teaching years. It brought back a lot of nice memories to look through them today. It also helped ease me into accepting the end of a wonderful Christmas vacation. I start back to school tomorrow.

Top left: The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg

Top right: Santa Mouse by Michael Brown, Illustrated by Elfrieda de Witt

Bottom left: The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard

Bottom Right: How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - The Bishop's Wife

We watched The Bishop's Wife tonight. The scene where Dudley decorates the Christmas tree with the wave of his arms is quite impressive considering there were no computer generated special effects back in 1947. 

We had pumpkin pie for dessert tonight, probably the last time for the season. There were only two individual slices left in the dessert case at Kowalski's so we figured it was meant to be. Also, I finished up the last of the pumpkin pie cream liqueur. There was only a splash left.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Warren and Gary

Had Warren and Gary over tonight for cocktails and dinner. Warren brought a nice salad and Dale and I ordered over the pizza from Pizza Luce. They introduced us to a Comedy Central show called Drunk History. It was quite entertaining. 

Warren noticed our manger scene and told me that when he was a boy he would swipe the Baby Jesus from his family's manger scene and keep it in his room with him overnight so as to keep the Baby safe. I usually set up the our scene on Christmas Eve day but don't put the Baby in until after the Christmas Eve service.

Gary found the pickle ornament on the Christmas tree. He got the same shot glass Mike got a few nights ago for finding the pickle. Gary told me where he could see the pickle but I told him that wasnt it since it wasn't where I hid it. Upon closer inspection I realized that Gary had indeed found the pickle. Turns out Mike moved the pickle the other night from its original spot unbeknownst to me. Rascal.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - New Year's Day 2015

Dale and I went to see the movie version of Into the Woods with Mom today. Mom and I saw the stage version with the traveling Broadway cast way back in 1991 or 1992 at the Ordway in St. Paul. 

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Dinner with Mike and Charisse

Had Mike and Charisse over for dinner tonight. It was great to catch up. We realized it's probably been since this past February since they've been over. Mike found the pickle on the Christmas tree so he won a prize. Warren and Gary are coming over Friday. We'll see if Gary can spot it.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - American Swedish Institute Part 2

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Top left: The solarium was set up as a model dining room this year which is not something I've seen the previous few years. The furniture, dish ware, and table linens were made by local artists and had a Scandinavian theme. 

Top right: A cut-out paper village was set up as a window display in the gift shop.

Bottom left and right: The kitchen had products by locally based Nordic Ware. Of course, the classic bundt pan was included in the display (left). I'm a fan of Nordic Ware but I've never seen this Santa cake pan before (right). I believe it's from the 1950s.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - American Swedish Institute Part 1

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Dale and I took Mom to the American Swedish Institute today to see the holiday themed rooms.

Top left and right: The Swedish themed dining room was in the actual dining room of the mansion, as usual. The table settings involved Swedish made glassworks. 

Bottom left and right: One of the upstairs bedrooms was set up as the Norwegian themed dining room.

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Yes, Stephen, Caroline, Dale, and I gathered at Noel's place for her annual Christmas fete. We figured out that we've been doing this for about 15 years now. You could say that's a pretty stable holiday tradition! Noel had Kowalski's provide the food which included beef and chicken skewers, salad, and sweets. It was all, as usual, quite delicious. Noel's apartments looked beautifully festive. Like last year, ghost storied were told. Stephen had one about a man in Iowa who saw an alien as a child and tried to find him into adulthood. 

Christmas Eve 2014 - Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve 2014 - Dinner

 

Dinner turned out great. My second martini wasn't bad either.

Christmas Eve 2014 - More Athena

Christmas Eve nap.

Christmas Eve 2014 - Kalle Anke

Last year at the American Swedish Institute, I discovered the phenomenon of Kalle Anke. Kalle Anke is Donald Duck and every year in Sweden a version of Disney's American Christmas special, From All of Us to All of You, is broadcast on Christmas Eve

According to Wikipedia:

"In Sweden the show is called Kalle Anke och hans veneer onskar God Jul (Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas). It is broadcast on SVT at 3 PM every Christmas Eve. . . The title reflects the fact that Donald Duck is far more popular in Sweden than Mickey Mouse. The show is one of the most popular shows all year in Sweden.  Every year the viewers number between 3 million and 4.5 million in a country with just more than 9 million inhabitants. Few TV shows fetch more viewers, among these are Melodifestivalen/Eurovision Song Contest and certain major sports broadcasts."

"The following shorts are usually shown, in integral or edited formats:"

-Santa's Workshop

-Clown of the Jungle

-Pluto's Christmas Tree

-Mickey's Trailer

-Ferdinand the Bull

"These feature films are represented through important scenes:"

-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

-Cinderella

-Lady and the Tramp

-The Jungle Book

-Robin Hood

At 3 PM today, Dale and I watched an old DVD of Disney cartoons that I have on hand for the nieces and nephews. It's not the line-up of the Swedish version but it did the trick for the purpose of trying to recreate the Swedish experience. Being a bit Swedish myself, I'll consider this a nod to my ancestry.

Christmas Eve 2014 - Making Dinner

I made turkey noodle hotdish for dinner. The ingredients include macaroni, cream of mushroom soup, corn, and, of course, ground turkey. It gets topped off with lots of cheddar when served up. I didn't sing this year but Dale did. The service was earlier than last year's, 7 to be exact. Dale's call was 6:00. I wanted to make something easy since we'd be eating early. This fit the bill. It's also a wonderful comfort food. After finishing my egg nog I made a Tanquerey martini. I listed to Cyndi Lauper and Ed Ames while cooking. The Ed Ames album brought me right back to living room of the house on Stevens.